ZRUČ NAD SÁZAVOU CHATEAU

Originally there was a fortress in the place where the castle now stands as documented by Heřman Chvalovský of Ledec who used to write from Zruč in the first half of the 14th century. It is not known if it was him who founded a castle in the place of the fortress. It is likely that the castle building was created by the process of gradual extension of the fortress. A stone castle has been documented in Zruč since 1355 during the era of the Kolovrat aristocratic family - one branch of which used to write the addition "of Zruč” to their names and later adopted the name "Zručští of Chřenovice” after the nearby Chřenovice Castle. In 1547 the Gothic style castle was reconstructed into a chateau. In 1553 Zruč was purchased by Jiří Kalenice of Kalenice. The Zruč estate flourished during the relatively peaceful times of the second half of the 16th century. The Kalenice family reconstructed the castle into a Renaissance-style chateau. Trade and crafts thrived in the vicinity of the castle and rumour suggests that in 1561 the status of Zruč was promoted by King Ferdinand I to that of a town. This, however, has not been proven. Between 1891 - 1892 the castle underwent a transformation into the Pseudo-Gothic style by J. Vejrych. This formed the current appearance of the chateau with three wings, two floors and a square tower on the south-east corner. The castle is surrounded by a moat. Remnants of a fort can be found behind the castle and ruins of a prismatic tower belonging to the original castle can be seen in the north-east of the park. There are several rare tree and shrub species in the garden, although many of them are rather overgrown. There are also several statues in the park - a Vine Maker, a Lion Throttling a Lamb, Jan Schebeck and a group of statues called the Canine Cemetery. Two ponds located in the park should not be forgotten. Visitors can see a replica of a ruin called the Baroness’ Viewing Point on a terrace below the castle.

The chateau is open to the public during the summer season. A tour of the chateau takes approximately 40 minutes and will take you through 11 rooms. Also the park, with its statues, is worth seeing and a tour of the park will last about 15 minutes. There are exactly 100 steps which visitors will have to climb to get to the top of the chateau tower. Once you have conquered them, you will be rewarded by a beautiful view of an old part of the town and the chateau park. In the summer season between 15 June and 30 August the chateau is open between 9 am and 4 pm. The entrance is 20 CZK for adults and concessions are 10 CZK, there is a flat rate entry of 5 CZK for the tower. There is a Czech speaking guide only however a written guide in English, French and German is available for foreign visitors. Tours of the chateau are often enhanced by interesting exhibitions.